Selected monographs : Czermak on the practical uses of the laryngoscope; Dusch on thrombosis of the cerebral sinuses; Schroeder van der Kolk on atrophy of the brain; Radicke on the application of statistics to medical enquiries;Esmarch on the uses of cold in surgical practice.

  • New Sydenham Society.
Date:
1861
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Selected monographs : Czermak on the practical uses of the laryngoscope; Dusch on thrombosis of the cerebral sinuses; Schroeder van der Kolk on atrophy of the brain; Radicke on the application of statistics to medical enquiries;Esmarch on the uses of cold in surgical practice. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by UCL Library Services. The original may be consulted at UCL (University College London)

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    If, for example, as is shown in Tig. 3, k represents the laryngeal Fl0 mirror, d a fasciculus of the solar rays, c the ri visual axis of the observer; the point a, which c remains invisible to the observer, is found illu- minated, whilst the point b, accessible to view, remains obscure. The position of the observer, and of the in- * '* dividual examined, ought equally to vary ac- wg. 3. k, Laryngeal mir- cording to the height of the sun; this some- &*, ty', luminous fesd- times produces situations unfavorable to the cuU- success of the examination. Finally, the observer may find himself baffled in a very unfortunate way, by the situation of the apartment, by the more or less clear- ness of the sky, and by the changes in the direction of the rays of the sun at the different hours of the day, &c. At the commencement of my laryngoscopic studies, I very naturally conceived the idea of substituting for the light of the sun, which is so frequently at fault, an artificial light, which would permit of iininterrupted observations. I soon succeeded in showing that we could do without the rays of the sun in our laryngoscopic researches, up to a certain point, although we might never wholly replace them. If we approximate an intense flame to the open mouth of a patient, the observer can examine the pharynx and employ the laryngoscope, in placing his eye very close to the flame; and this latter may be masked by a screen or a reflector, as in the simple form of ophthalmoscope of Helmholtz. In order to have both hands free, I have placed a candle and its reflector before the eyes, by means of a handle fixed between the teeth ('Bib./ No. 2). But I have succeeded in obtaining a result more complete and easy still (f Bib./ No. 1), in using the large ophthalmoscope of Euete, joined to a powerful moderator-lamp.1 On introducing the employment of the ophthalmoscope in laryn- goscopy, I have accomplished the necessary concentration of the rays of artificial light, in a manner by which these researches have become independent of the light of the sun. But I have found it very convenient, on the other hand, always to use for the purposes of 1 Since then I have used a whiter and more intense light, such as, for example, that of ordinary gas, camphinc, &c. Besides, natural philosophy fur- nishes us witli sufficient means for increasing the intensity of artificial light.